Melee combat in Felarya

Mmhm, that is a good point. In the end, it's kind of a decision you have to make, since specialization makes you better at a given task but worse at the rest. The "Jack of all trades" viewpoint would mean that you carry less equipment, since most of your tools can be used for more than one purpose, but you would be at a disadvantage compared to someone that carries the tool specific for that task (including combat).

I don't mean to look down on it, though; one of my own characters uses a spade or a hammer as weapons sometimes. He carries them as tools, but has modified them a bit so they can resist in the heat of combat. Just that he would be in a pinch if he were to face a bandit armed with a sword or something like that.

I would take the monk approach to melee combat, and just use weps that improve your fists, like bronze knuckles and whatnot. If you really need a melee weapon that isn't your bare hands, then my best suggestion would be something that can be used outside of combat. A kukri to chop down tree, or a shovel to dig a trench, or a knife to skin the bark off of a tree and use it as a makeshift raft.

In my honest opinion, anything else would just be a burden. I'm a man who believes in the "Jack of All Trades" philosophy.

XD Ironic you would reference the Monk. Since I've been playign FFT and trying to unlock the Ninja for the main character and one prerequisite is to have o h so many levels in Monk which is now hits for close to 160 damage wit his bare hands, since you couldn't get any of those fancy claws or boxing gloves in the original. Though I think goign bare fisted against a giant anything is a bad idea unless you unrealistically powerful punches or a big pair of Cestus.

Though I think goign bare fisted against a giant anything is a bad idea unless you unrealistically powerful punches or a big pair of Cestus.

I was under the impression that going against a gaint with anything short of a mounted machine gun is a bad idea, if anything all Melee weapons are mostly useless in that area. Surely when discussing melee fighting, we are mostly thinking of equal sized opponents.

Well, yes and no, Dark. Depending on how you use it, a melee weapon could very well prove effecting at helping ward off or escape from giants. Should you be holding a spear that you're skilled with, you could prevent the giant from taking hold of you by poking it's palms and fingers with the pointy end, causing them pain and deterring them, hopefully, from approaching. Should you be equipped with some item that lets you get around easily, you could even attempt targeting a giant's weak points, such as the eyes or base of the neck/spine with a melee weapon. Should you encounter a bipedal giant while wielding a sufficient blunt weapon, you could attempt to break a toe or two to impede their movement, or at least stun them for a couple good moments while you hide. :]

Of course, fighting a giant on equal footing would be impossible with simply a melee weapon, you're right in that regard. There's a very low probability of one scoring a finishing blow with one.

It's not so much as underestimating. Its more of the factor of "danger close." Engaging something that big and has the samemovement as a human puts you at several disadvantages over range. As if you Seen later. Most of those soilders were getting killed by an intelligent titan (which is the size and intelligence of most predators). But by all means if you ecxel and manuvere sround a giant creature that well, then chop chop . Most people just like killing things from a distance because it is easier...lest you find opponents that resist projectiles like mad or have one critcal spot. All around personsonal preferance really.